Thursday, 17 September 2015

The indomitable Greg McQueen, who was the driving force between 100 Stories for Haiti anthology, after the Haiti disaster some years ago, is organising another charity anthology - this time to raise funds for the Red Cross in their efforts to help the refugee crisis.

Here is Greg, talking about this new initiative.

I'm delighted to be part of the selection team for the anthology - look forward to reading your stories! Here are the guidelines for submission.

Refugees Welcome Anthology call for subs, via Coboox.com - Submission Guidelines
* Short Stories
* 3,000 words (maximum)
* We want stories of any genre that are about happiness, friendship, community, and humanity. Stories with a dash of humour and lots of hope.

Stories that somehow shine a light of hope in a dark situation.
* We DO NOT want stories about death, destruction, or war.
* Stories must be submitted through the Coboox system. We will not accept submissions via email.

How to submit your story

* Make a profile on Coboox
* Create a project on the Coboox system
* Choose the ‪#‎RefugeesWelcome‬ Anthology workflow
* Find a reader and editor on the Coboox system to help get your story ready for the selection panel who will choose the stories for inclusion in the anthology

Monday, 7 September 2015

Stunning - a gorgeously produced book, a real fizz to open my copies and sit on the floor going "Hey! Look who's here!"

Weird, wonderful and full of poetic truth. We like to think we know our partner but this funny collection of stories shows just how complex our nearest and dearest can be. For some people, it can be a horrifying idea but Ed's Wife shows how wonderful 'different' can be.

This gorgeous book of beautifully illustrated short texts excavates the deep love between a man and a woman using insect and animal behaviour as a brilliant way to articulate the complexities of affection, bonding, intimacy, attraction, sex, loneliness and loss. A fabulous blurring of short-short fiction and prose poetry, which cumulatively creates a novelistic experience as well as being a delightful dip-in dip-out box of bite size chunks you can enjoy on their own.

This collection of beautifully-illustrated, funny and poignant miniatures illuminates one of life's essential challenges: recognising that, although we look similar, The Other (even The Other who shares our bed), may actually be as different from us as another species. If you love me, Ed's wife is saying, don't pin me down, fix me in amber. Just let me be this... and this ... and this. Ed wakes up not knowing who - or what - will be there, struggling to understand, to accept, to just be.

Liquorice Fish Books is a new imprint from Cinnamon Press to promote the innovative and idiosyncratic in contemporary writing: writers who are passionate and committed to finding an individual voice and approach to their writing; who are restless and want to explore the many possibilities inherent in language and the written word; or who wish to celebrate and extend the vibrant and varied traditions — and anti-traditions &8212; that emerged during the 20th Century but which have been too often marginalised and belittled by the world of corporate authorship

If you would like a copy, Ed is £8.99 plus p and p from all the usual suspects, but please support the indie presses by buying direct!